Tatiana Blass presents the exhibition "Contrarregra" at Instituto Tomie Ohtake in São Paulo from August to October 2026.
The exhibition brings together approximately 50 works produced between 2008 and 2026, including paintings, sculptures, installations, videos, and a group of previously unseen works, offering an overview of the artist’s production and her ongoing investigation into matter, space, light, and time.
The exhibition’s title refers to the figure of the stagehand, responsible for organizing the backstage and creating the conditions for the scene to unfold without occupying center stage. Based on this idea, the exhibition brings the artist’s practice closer to the logic of theater, presenting works that shift attention away from the result and toward the processes that make the image possible. Although painting serves as her point of departure, her practice expands into different forms of expression—including sculpture, installation, video, and performance—and materials such as glass, bronze, wax, ceramics, among others.
Among the highlights of the exhibition is a significant group of previously unseen works developed especially for Instituto Tomie Ohtake, alongside works from different moments in the artist’s career. The new paintings from the Contraluz series, created on glass, incorporate architecture, the incidence of light, and the movement of the visitor into the image itself, while works from the series Metade da fala no chão, Quebra-quebra, Nó, Noite-dia, and Contrarregra reveal the dialogue the artist establishes between painting, sculpture, sound, and language.
The transformation of matter occupies a central place in the exhibition. Across different works, materials such as wax, glass, bronze, and ceramics remain in a constant state of change, incorporating time as part of the work itself. Rather than presenting definitive forms, Tatiana Blass creates works that are altered by the action of light, heat, gravity, or the presence of the public, making transformation a constitutive element of the exhibition experience.
Developed in dialogue with the artist, the exhibition design transforms the galleries into a space of staging. The installation incorporates two stages, which become part of the visitor’s path and establish direct relationships with the works. More than scenographic elements, these devices underscore the idea of the backstage that runs throughout the exhibition.
The exhibition also features previously unseen works resulting from the encounter between Tatiana Blass and musician Kiko Dinucci. Beginning with recent paintings by the artist, the two initiated a dialogue that resulted in the cover of the composer’s new album and, subsequently, in a series of works developed especially for the exhibition.
